US Naval Hospital Corps School - Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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of 353,500,000 ln addition, a 347,000 recreation hall had been donated by the Red Cross in 1922. In 1929, a 3250,000 contract provided a sick officers' quarters at the north end of the grounds and four officers' quarters at the south end of the compound. This brought the bed capacity up to 1035. At the beginning of World War II, the Hospital consisted of 56 buildings with an authorized bed capacity of 1,424. By the end of the war, the command had so expanded that it was divided into six units. These units were composed of a total of 241 buildings on a combined area of 247 acres with an authorized bed capacity of 10,499. Unit One consisted of the buildings on the Reservation. Unit Two consisted of 33 acres and 25 exposition buildings in Balboa Park which were taken over by the Navy in 1941. This unit also had a city'7 of 239 tents. Unit Three, Camp Kidd, was transferred to the Hospital in 1944 and became the Hospital Corps School. It was made up of 33 converted Army barracks in the central section of Balboa Park. Unit Four was made up of 28 Army barracks in the southwestern section of the park. Unit Five was composed of 11 buildings used for storage for the crew and patients. Unit Six consisted of the convalescent branch of the hospital at Rancho Santa Fe, located 30 miles from the main Hospital. At the outbreak of the war in 1941 the Hospital was car- ing for approximately 1,200 patients with 728 staff mem- bers on duty. The staff consisted of 93 medical officers, 82 nurses and 518 enlisted corpsmen. ln August 1945, the last month of the war, the Hospital cared for an average of 8,096 patients. During this period - World War 11 - ap- proximately 172,000 patients were treated, the peak having been reached on 27 December 1944, when the patient census soared to an all-time high of more than 12,000. When the war terminated, the six additional hospital units were disestablished and the Balboa Park properties were returned to the City of San Diego. In the era following the end of Vlforld War II the program of expansion was once more undertaken. In 1946, a Residency Training Program was established for the training of medical officers in the various specialties. This program has continued to the present time and has been continuously supported by an additional staff of outstanding civilian medical specialists in the area who serve as con- sultants. In 1947, a new nurses, quarters was completed with ac- commodations for 88 nurses. At the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, the Hospital had added a new animal house, a large parking shed, a maintenance service building which housed a machine shop and key shop, a lubrication hoist, a paint and spray booth and a smaller parking shed. During the Korean Conflict the Hospital once again lived up to its slogan, 4'lVlen as Well as ships need a haven for Captain Chrisman cuts ribbon at dedi- cation of Surgical Building 26, May, 1957, as Rear Admiral Hogan looks on.

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a sundial and plaques at the main gate, lower gate and above the entrance of the Administration Building were donated by the Admiral. During the course of World War I, Navy Officials realized that San Diego would be an ideal location for a permanent air station, Marine Corps base, naval training station and a naval hospital large enough in size and facilities to serve the military personnel. On 20 May 1919, the Secretary of the Navy changed the title of the War Dispensary to the desig- nation of Naval Hospital and ordered plans for the con- struction of a permanent hospital. Inspiration Point was offered the Navy by San Diego for the hospital site. It was a tract of land worthy of the name Inspiration Point, for it comprises a hilltop of 92.66 acres and offers a beautiful view of Balboa Park and picturesque San Diego Bay. The contract for the construction of the first buildings was drawn in October 1920. It called for a central administration building flanked by three wards on each side. Rear Admiral Edward R. Stitt, Surgeon General of the Navy, was responsible for the early planning of the hospital. The street running in front of the three original buildings was named Stitt Avenue in honor of the man who had so much to do with the structural planning. The con- struction also included four other buildings, among them the Surgical Suite and Mess Hall. The hospital was built at a cost of 31,103,321. The work was accomplished and the establishment placed in commission on 22 August 1922. The equipment from the War Dispensary was moved to the present Hospital location. Captain F. W. F. Weiber, second commanding officer of the hospital, then instituted the landscaping of the grounds. William H. Crofts, an English ORIGINAL MEDICAL DISPENSARY, 1917 gardener who had established a reputation as a master gar- dener during 10 years' service on the estate of the Duke of Norfolk in Sheffield, England, and who had 10 years' experi- ence in America, was hired as Head Gardener. The results of Crofts, work was a display which brought much praise from people who appreciated the wonderful symmetry and design. The landscaping of the grounds lives on as a tribute to the workers who made the hospital grounds the most beautiful in the State of California. The first buildings provided bed space for less than 300 patients while the daily census of patients in 1923 was 400. Tents, erected in what is now the main patio, provided for the overflow. At that time three additional buildings were under construction. These buildings were completed in 1924- at a cost of approximately 3500,000 and added a medical and surgical department of three wards with 172 beds each. This brought the hospitalis total bed capacity up to 618. The third building was a service building which housed the shops, laundry and garage. The Fleet concentration in the Pacific and the growth of naval shore activities increased so that in 1925 the bed capacity of the hospital was once again inadequate. Captain Raymond Spear, then Medical Officer in Command, recom- mended the construction of four new buildings which in- cluded North wards, a laboratory department, an X-ray de- partment, a nurses' quarters and an incinerator building. Completion of these buildings brought the number of avail- able beds up to 882, but another shortage occurred in 1928. The fourth contract provided for a contagion ward at the south end ofthe patio, a Hospital Corps School and a Morgue. The entire compound in 1928 represented an investment 5' qi E5 alll Bl I5 Hill il is .yggggl ll as ll ORIGINAL SURGERY BUILDING, 1917

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repair, as is evidenced by some 90,000 patients being treated from the beginning of the conflict until the truce was signed on 26 Iuly 1953. In 1952, the Sick Officers' Quarters were expanded and the Navy Exchange Restaurant was enlarged. The Spring of 1955 saw the completion of the Transportation Building at the south end of the compound. At this time Transportation vacated the basement of Building 11 and a laundry and uniform and tailor shop moved in. Iune of 1954 marked the beginning of construction of the new surgical building which was commissioned 15 May 1957, at a cost of approxi- mately 357,300,000 The U. S. Naval Hospital, San Diego, is one of the largest military hospitals in the world, maintaining a staff of ap- proximately 450 officers, 700 enlisted personnel and 700 civilian personnel. The Hospital has often been spoken of as one of the finest hospitals, civilian or military, in the United States. It is a specialized treatment center for on- cology, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, thoracic and cardio- vascular surgery, tuberculosis and acrylic ocular prosthesis. As an outstanding citadel of mercy, the Hospital has been a leader in the field of medicine and has kept up with the highest traditions of the Naval Service as well as the tradi- tions of the medical profession. Now, in this, the Hospital's 39th year, the personnel and the institution rededicate themselves to keep alive in the future the slogan, Men as well as ships need a haven for repairn . . . a symbol to be carried throughout the years in the march toward greater heights as a leader in the Navy and in the field of medicine. The Hospital is commanded by Captain A. S. Chrisman, Medical Corps, U. S. Navy. Former Commanding officers were: WAR PERIOD DISPENSARY COMDR. AMMEN FARENHOLT Iune 1917 to Ian 1918 LIEUT. COMDR. W. H. BUCHER, RET. Ian 1918 to Feb 1919 CAPTAIN H. C. CURL Feb 1919 to May 1919 U. S. NAVAL HOSPITAL CAPTAIN H. C. CURL May 1919 to May 1922 CAPTAIN F. W. F. WIEBER May 1922 to April 1925 CAPTAIN RAYMOND SPEAR May 1925 to Oct 1929 CAPTAIN D. N. CARPENTER Oct 1929 to Nov 1931 CAPTAIN U. R. WEBB Nov 1931 to Feb 1935 CAPTAIN F. E. PORTER Feb 1935 to Aug 1938 CAPTAIN I. M. MINTER Aug 1938 to Iuly 1940 CAPTAIN WILLIAM CHAMBERS Aug 1940 to Sept 1942 CAPTAIN GEO. C. THOMAS Sept 1942 to July 1943 CAPTAIN M. D. WILLCUTTS Iuly 1943 to Mar 1945 CAPTAIN I. W. ALLEN Mar 1945 to Apr 1946 CAPTAIN I. W. JACOBS Apr 1946 to Mar 1947 CAPTAIN F. R. HOOK Mar 1947 to Feb 1948 CAPTAIN :R. D. MACKEY Feb 1948 to Aug 1950 CAPTAIN O. B. MORRISON, IR. Aug 1950 to Feb 1952 CAPTAIN W. F. IAMES Feb 1952 to Feb 1954 REAR ADMIRAL R. M. GILLETT Feb 1954 to Aug 1956 CAPTAIN A. S. CHRISMAN Aug 1956 to -